In fairness to TSA, when you give someone that much power and control, it will
always get abused. We the people must rule and govern ourselves instead of
bankrupting ourselves by putting security at every possible check point.

This is the Law of Unintended Consequenses playing itself out before our eyes.
The rightful person to blame is Osama Bin-Laden and his more or less sucessful
9/11 Terror Campaign. The TSA is the unfortunate love child of the 9/11 event.
Sadly this is the world we live in now. In the 1990 Movie "Total
Recall", 11 years before 9/11, they had full body scanners too and they
couldn't stop Arnold S from escaping to Mars neither. One needs to weigh
the loss of privacy against the hundreds of loaded hand guns confiscated from
passagers over the last 12 years. Phase II of the 9/11 Attacks was aimed at the
West coast. I am glad the First Interstate Bank in Downtown L.A. is still here.
Hollywood Extraterrestial Aliens and Global Warming can zap it to their hearts
content but Al Queada and their ilk a BIG NO !!!

Looking at the job they have to do, and the people going through security, and
the stuff they bring with them, they pretty much have to laugh. It's a
natural, human response. I laugh just going through the line myself.

TSA is dead. Just look at the TSA-Pre line, the line where your carry-ons get a
quick scan and you walk through without taking off shoes, pulling out liquids,
or any such nonsense. More and more people qualify for TSA-Pre -- I got it last
week for being a new ff on USAirways. I had it all last year for being a Delta
ff. And now I have Global Entry, which most anyone can get and which qualifies
you for TSA-Pre on any airline. Pretty soon most people will be zipping through
TSA-Pre, leaving the regular screening to occasional vacationers and LDS
missionaries. Occasional travelers because they won't bother registering,
and missionaries because they are young people flying on one-way tickets
purchased just a few days before the flight.

TSA never stopped a
thing. You can still carry the same size knife the terrorists used through TSA.
What stops any repeat of 9/11 is three things: secure cockpit doors, armed
pilots, and a vigilant public. Try creating a fuss on any flight and immediately
a bunch of passengers will jump on you and help the flight attendants duct-tape
you to your seat.

Anyone who does the kind of mind numbing repetitive work that the TSA does would
make jokes about the people that come through, if only just to break the
monotony. Give them a break. Using humor, even if sometimes crude, is a better
release than cracking up and going postal.

Trust me.... they don't need body scanners to need a reason to laugh at
some of the travelling public. If some how seeing a body scan of me makes a TSA
agent in a back room - laugh - I am really not all that concern. It hardly
reflects bad on me... just saying.

The funny thing is go to any
beach or public pool in the summer time, you will see more revealing images
live... if that is your thing.

As someone who travels regularly, I
find this whole thing way over blown. I would rather be scanned than a vehicle
for some deranged psycho bent on changing the world to make a statement. But
that is just me....

With how they treat people in line... I can imagine how they act in the back
room.

I've learned from watching other people get into trouble
to just be as cooperative as possible and do whatever they say. You don't
want to tick-off a TSA agent. They can make your life miserable IF they want
to.

I recently flew out of the SL:C airport and the Tampa FL airport after losing
my wallet and ID at the airport (yes I flew twice without any ID), the TSA was
very polite and helpful despite my creating extra work for them as they had to
do additional screenings. They were professional and kind throughout the process
at both airports. In fact not only was the TSA polite and professional, so was
the airport staff and the airline staff. I have a feeling you get the same
attitude you give as is usually the case in life.